Shellsan: So I didn't manage to make it a weekly or even fortnightly update schedule but at the very least this update is less than a month after the previous one…

Naru: Stop procrastinating and actually get things done!

Shellsan: I'm sorry! But anime is distracting and there are some amazing fanfiction out there that happen to be crazy long and I get caught up T_T I will try harder!

Mai: Shellsan owns nothing…

Mai sighed as she made her way to the kitchen, following the directions she'd been given by Luella. She didn't have much time. First she'd scope out what the Davis' had available to use before she went back to grab the rest of the things she would need. It would take a little bit of work but she was sure she could pull off her plan with Yasu's help just fine.

Although she felt a little bad for everyone else. She'd basically sold their souls without their knowing. Not that they would realise if she didn't tell them until a later time, but she did plan to make it known to them before that so that if they had any qualms they could take them out on Yasu instead of her. They may be partners in crime but sometimes you just had to know when to quit.

Chuckling slightly to herself, she pushed open the large wooden door and found herself unable to hold back a squeal at the size of the kitchen. It was every bakers dream!

Doing a little spin, she double checked that no-one was around before she began to ruffle through the cupboards, careful not to disturb anything too much. She found a few tea pots in the larger size and a collection of smaller ones. They looked precious so she'd have to be extremely careful if she ended up using them when the experiment was finally over. But for now, she opted to stay away from them.

Finding some plastic bowls she decided that they were definitely the better option.

She also found a tea strainer and some jars of various tea leaves, however they weren't in the best condition.

The brunette sighed. It was clear that as far as tea leaves and the other ingredients she needed, she'd have to go out and buy them. Maybe Yasu could come shopping with her under the guise of sightseeing or shopping... It wouldn't be too difficult as long as no-one else tried to tag along.

Deciding that was the best way to go about things, Mai resolved to grab Yasu now before anything else had time to happen.

Wandering back the way she came, it occurred to her that they might be somewhere else already at this point.

With a sigh, Mai closed her eyes and concentrated. She wasn't quite back up to full strength since the stunt she pulled while they were on the case, but there was enough spiritual energy left inside her to easily locate them and draw up a mental map.

Following it, she found herself in front of another set of large French doors, wandering how they could stand for every room to look the same.

Quietly, she opened the door, not surprised to find that everyone, including Naru, Lin and Martin were inside. I had felt more than enough auras to have realised how many people were inside the room before I even got there.

"Mai!" Luella exclaimed happily, grinning at me. "Please, join us. We were just discussing some of the hauntings that have been investigated at BSPR." She waved Mai over.

Naru had looked up the moment that she had entered the room. He hadn't meant to, but it was likely that it was Mai and he was wary as to where she had disappeared to. The others hadn't mentioned it but they obviously knew. Yasuhara didn't seem to think that she was in any danger and he wanted to trust his judgement. But Mai seemed to be able to attract danger in the most unlikely of situations and he couldn't help but be a little cautious knowing this fact.

However, as all the occupants in the room could tell, Mai was fine, if acting a little strange.

Smiling, the brunette bit her lip. "I'd love to Mrs Davis, but I actually wanted to borrow Yasu for the afternoon…" She trailed off with a sheepish look.

It was clear that the Brunette was trying not to seem rude, but she also looked anxious.

From next to Madoka, Yasu, grinned. "Ahhh, my lovely princess has come to take her prince away. Shall we ride into the sunset at a pace slower than Masako running?" He dramatized, grinning at the snickers he received from Ayako, Bou-san and Mai.

The rest of the people in the room seemed confused – namely Lin, Madoka, Naru, Martin and Luella. However Madoka seemed to catch on quick, giggling along with them after a moment.

Getting over the laughter, Mai rolled her eyes at her best friend. "Hardly, we'll be back long by then I should hope. Or at least we will be if you hurry up." She complains.

Bou-san pouted. "But Jou-chan! Don't you want to wander London with your favourite father?" He whined, stopping Yasu from walking over to where Mai was standing.

Turning around, the black haired man looked up at Bou-san with glint in his eyes. "Oh my love! I know, it breaks my heart to walk away from you too. But there is no need for jealousy. You and I can go on a date in the park before you return back to Japan." He proclaimed, before smirking and lowering his voice. "And if you wanted to jump me, then you could have done it earlier when I was alone. I hardly thought you were that type of person."

He of course meant to disrespect towards anyone who enjoyed that sort of thing, however the reaction he got from the monk was absolutely worth it.

Releasing Yasu, he jumped back to put some distance between them almost immediately. He wasn't sure what the hell that stupid kid was thinking, saying something so wrong in front of his innocent Mai, but he wasn't about to stand there and let him attack his pride – not that he had any left with the looks he was getting out of amusement.

Before anyone could say anything else, Luella gave Mai a worried look. "Would you like a lift into town? We're further out and it's around a thirty to forty minutes away by foot…" She trailed off.

Mai grinned at Yasu, and he turned to Luella with a big smile. "Don't worry about it. Walking will do us some good. Besides, I'm sure we can make it there in twenty-five minutes."

Rolling her eyes, the brunette gave her friend a challenging look. "I bet I can make it in twenty."

Martin raised a brow at the two but before he could comment on their unusual rivalry, they were already waving goodbye and out of the door before anyone could stop them and slow down their progress further.

Lin tried to look impartial from his spot between Noll and Martin, but he couldn't help but voice his thoughts. "Do they even know where they're going?"

At this question, Ayako scoffed. "They'll probably walk in a direction that Mai's instincts say to and hope that they'll arrive where they're supposed."

John chuckled at little sheepishly at her tone as Luella looked even more worried about them. "That doesn't sound very trustworthy… Should I go after them? They can't be too far by now…" The elder lady was worried about those two. Mai was a sweet girl. She didn't want anything to happen to her – not that she wasn't worried about the boy as well.

Rolling his eyes at them, Bou-san shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Those two would pretty far along by now, with their speed. And Mai's instincts might now seem like much to you but they've never failed her yet. Think of it as training her abilities so that there will never be any doubt about what she says when she has a feeling. Those two will be back in no time." He assured them all.

After how long they've worked with Mai, even Masako had to admit that Mai's instincts have never been off the mark.

Even so, Luella still seemed worried. "I'm afraid it still worries me… surely it would have been better to give them a lift. And with how they both are, surely if something were too happen they wouldn't be able to deal with it… They can't be too far along. It'd still be better for me to send someone to give them a lift. It's not like it'd cause any trouble…" She tried to insist.

Luella couldn't help but think that Mai looked so innocent and small that if anything were to happen, she might get hurt. And after everything that Madoka had told her about the brunette she seemed to attract more danger then bugs to light.

Apparently she wasn't the only one that was concerned. Martin gave a nod at her suggestion. "If anything were to happen while they are in our care it definitely wouldn't be good." He agreed.

With the way they were talking, Naru couldn't help but think it sounded like Mai and Yasu were walking into the middle of a war unarmed.

Masako seemed to agree. "Mr and Mrs Davis, please understand that we wouldn't have let them go if we thought anything dangerous would happen. Yasu and Mai are both stronger than they look. And with the time you were ignoring our statements about how much they'll be okay, they've probably already made it into town."

Madoka furrowed her brows, looking at the time. "It's only been around twenty minutes. It's not likely." She wouldn't say it was impossible because she was a ghost hunter – everything was possible. But it certainly wasn't probable.

This time Ayako grinned proudly. "I'll have you know that Mai was a track runner in middle school. One of the best."

Bou-san smirked. "You only found out recently when we turned down some offers from various schools. Even some in America." He pointed out, only to be hit into silence a second later.

Now it was really Naru's turn to be surprised. He had known Mai was fast. After the amount of times she'd outrun them while going head first into danger it was hardly a surprise. But hearing someone say that she was good enough that she was being scouted made him remember that Mai hadn't always had abilities beyond normal capabilities. If it weren't for him she might've had a chance at a job that wasn't as dangerous. It made him feel a little guilty.

Sensing his thoughts, Bou-san added. "I told her to choose whatever made her feel the happiest. She decided that she'd rather ghost hunt than run track. Said that they were both as dangerous as each other. Apparently the reason why she wasn't doing track in high school was because she had a bad fall and broke her leg towards the end of middle school."

This made Naru mentally cringe, along with everyone else in the room. It would seem that Mai could get into trouble without there even being a major risk.

Sighing in resignation, Luella nodded. "If they aren't back within the next hour and a half then I'm going looking for them though." She declared.

No-one argued further on the subject.

~WiThMaI~

As Mai ran against Yasu, she was clearly wining. Her chest was heaving evenly as she ran at the pace she knew she could last at evenly for the full twenty minutes. Yasu had ran a little harder at first and had to slow down later on because he was running low on breath. He was no amateur but he wasn't as good as the girl who made top three in the nationals.

Arriving at where her instincts were directing her, Mai slowed to a stop and clicked her watch, happy to see that it read twenty minutes and thirty six seconds.

Yasu caught up with her a minute later, panting. "We should find somewhere to sit down for a couple minutes." He suggested, with a tired smile.

Giggling, Mai agreed, already walking towards the nearby bench outside a park.

Collapsing into their seats, both of them relaxed, soaking up the scenery. They hadn't had time to look at it earlier but now that they were properly observing everything, the fact that they were no longer in Japan was beginning to sink in properly.

Looking at her, Yasu asked the question he'd wanted to find out about before they left. "Do you even have money? I assume we're out to buy some stuff to complete the experiment."

Mai huffed. "I have money. I was prepared. But yeah. We have to stop by the stores and I need to see if I can find a tea shop..." She sighed. The chances were slim but if she had more tea leaves to work with then things might work out better. She has some, but it's not enough.

Nodding, Yasu looked thoughtful. "Well, let's go through the grocery stores and then we'll find the tea shop." He decided, always the planner of the two.

Mai grinned. "Ready to move?"

The other looked affronted. "Never." He groaned, but got up anyway, pull Mai up after.

~TiMeSkIpU~

The two sighed as they walked around town. Mai was about to give up on finding a tea store when she felt a twinge in her stomach, telling her that she shouldn't. Biting a lip, the brunette glanced around, hoping that if her instincts were right, she could catch sight of something.

Yasu seemed to notice and kept quiet, taking the bags Mai was holding silently so that she could focus completely on her thoughts.

Closing her eyes, she focused on finding the link. It took a few minutes but when she snapped her eyes open once more and swung around, she immediately began walking towards a small alleyway and turning.

Jogging to catch up, Yasu was careful of the bags as he tried to match Mai's pace.

They continued like that for around five minutes before she stopped out the front of a small dark looking store.

It was creepy but Mai's instincts said that there was nothing that could harm her inside so she swallowed before pushing the door open.

Despite the looks from outside, the inside was actually very cosy. Dark wood for every surface but there was a nice chandelier hanging from the ceiling and multiple shelves with varieties of plants.

Yasu shivered a little. "Is this a witch's haven?" He asked quietly, a little freaked out but otherwise his normal self.

Shrugging, Mai observed the shelves before walking up to the counter and ringing the bell to signal her arrival.

An elderly lady appeared not moments later and smiled warmly at Mai.

"Hello there dearie. I didn't expect many customers today. Are you after something specific?" She inquired, motioning to the wide variety she had on display.

As Mai and the lady went into detail about what teas she was after, Yasu continued to look around the room. It honestly didn't seem like a place anyone would willingly go to without a purpose. However the lady running seemed kind enough.

There were many different herbs, flowers and other plants hanging on the walls, some that he recognised and others he didn't have a clue about.

One thing was for sure, this woman knew her fair share about the paranormal. He recognised the markings of some charms hidden around the room.

"-su, Yasu!" Mai exclaimed, trying to get her friends attention.

Turning around, Yasu grinned as he forced himself to snap out of his thoughts. It wouldn't do to be distracted.

"Sorry. You ready to go?"

The brunette nodded, holding up the paper bag.

Waving goodbye, Mai followed Yasu as they exited the store.

"What was that about?" The brunette asked once they were out of earshot.

Yasu shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing." He insisted.

With a sigh, Mai didn't pry further.

Shellsan: And there we have it.

Naru: I thought it was going to be longer

Shellsan: So did I… I'm not as happy with this chapter as I could be but I'm happy with it enough. And 2635 words isn't too bad… I'm going to try and work towards Mai starting school up with Yasu soon ^_^ The next chapter is already underway since I did have more on the end of this one but it seemed better to stop it there.

Mai: Shellsan still doesn't own ghost hunt.